1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of reading an image, a method of forming a color image, a device for forming a color image, a silver halide color photosensitive material, and a device for processing a photosensitive material, and in particular to a method of reading an image for substantially reading a silver image, a method of forming a color image a device for forming a color image for maintaining the latitude of an exposed silver halide color photosensitive material and easily and rapidly giving an image having excellent saturation, and device for processing a photosensitive material for obtaining a color image easily and rapidly from an exposed color photosensitive material.
2. Description of the Related Art
The principles of color photography which is currently in wide use utilizes color reproduction by a subtractive process. General color negatives are provided with a transparent support, and thereon, photosensitive layers using a silver halide emulsion which is a photosensitive element having light sensitivity to a blue, green or red region. In these photosensitive layers, so-called color couplers for forming the respective complementary colors, that is, yellow, magenta and cyan coloring materials are contained in combination. A color negative film subjected to image-like light exposure by photographing is developed in a color developing solution containing an aromatic primary amine developing agent. In this step, the exposed silver halide grains are developed (i.e. reduced) with the developing agent, to form metal silver, and the simultaneously formed oxidized body of the developing agent is subjected to coupling reaction with the color couplers described above, to form the respective coloring materials. The metal silver (developed silver) formed by development and unreacted silver halide are removed by bleaching and fixing treatment respectively, whereby a coloring material image is obtained. A color photographic paper, which is a color photosensitive material wherein a photosensitive layer having a combination of a similar photosensitive wavelength region and coloring hue is coated on a reflective support, is irradiated optically via a color negative film after developing treatment, and then subjected to similar coloring development, bleaching and fixing treatment, whereby a color print comprising a coloring material image which reproduces an original scene can be obtained.
These systems are widely used at present, but there is demand for improving simplicity and easiness thereof. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 6-266066 and JP-A No. 6-295035 disclose methods of forming an image by extracting image information showing image-like light exposure onto parts of each color of blue, red and green from color photographic elements of silver halide, that is, a silver image, without forming a coloring material image. According to this method, the photosensitive material can be designed without using a coloring material.
However, even if a color image is formed by applying this method to a commercial color photosensitive material, the resulting image is poor in sensitivity and has much noise. This problem is considered attributable to the qualities of the silver image obtained by development. That is, it is considered that a silver image suitable for reading cannot be formed by conventional development, and a color image formed on the basis of this silver image has much noise, thus bringing about low sensitivity.
In the market of color photography, the so-called color film paper system is conventionally used where an exposed color photosensitive material (hereinafter also called “color film”) is developed in a processing laboratory, and the resulting image is printed onto a photographic paper to obtain a color print. In the color photography market observed in recent years, there are the following tendencies: (1) the dispersion of processing sites, that is, the shift from conventional intensive large processing laboratories (large laboratories) where color films collected from shops such as camera shops are developed, and the resulting color prints are returned via the camera shops to the customers, to processing laboratories in shops (mini laboratories) where customers' films are developed in the shops and the color prints are returned on the spot to the customers, and (2) the spread of digital photo images, that is, the spread of electronic recording of images on films after photographing or printing from electronically recorded digital image sources by the advent of digital mini laboratories where photo images are digitally handled. However, with respect to above (1), it is true that the time elapsed from receipt of color films from customers to return of finished prints to the customers is significantly reduced by dispersion of processing sites in mini-laboratories, but under the present circumstances, about 30 minutes is still necessary in which particularly 10 minutes or more is necessary for development of a film. Further, because the developing solution is handled, maintenance is troublesome and there is no room for simplification. With respect to above (2), digitalized service for film information is still time-consuming (e.g. a few days is required), and footholds for the service are limited.
Accordingly, there is demand for the realization of a system in which development onto various image media can be conducted rapidly and easily by significant simplification and rapidness not achieved in present color film paper systems and by converting color images obtained by development of a color film into digital image information.
As a method of meeting this need, International Publications WO 98/19216 and 98/25399 disclose methods in which a color film is subjected to black and white development and the resulting image is read by scanning with reflected light and transmitted light to obtain image information from which a color image is formed. In these methods, the color film is conveyed and simultaneously brought into contact with a developing solution and read successively by scanning, and thus there are disadvantages such as inadequate accuracy of image reading, significant noise in image information, a long treatment time, and a significant fluctuations in processing.
JP-A No. 6-266066 and JP-A No. 6-295035 disclose improved methods of improving reading accuracy by providing a reflective layer in a color film. However, the disclosed methods are not practical because general films distributed on the market cannot be used with these methods.
Further, JP-A No. 9-146447 and JP-A No. 9-204031 disclose methods of obtaining digital image information by scanning-reading an image developed by heating a film containing a developing agent. These methods achieve rapid and simplified development process, but similarly to the JP-A No. 6-266066 and JP-A No. 6-295035 mentioned above, suffer from the problem that general films cannot be used therewith.
JP-A No. 11-52528 discloses a method of obtaining digital image information by scanning reading an image without conducting bleaching treatment after coloring development. This method is a method in which development process is rapid and simplified, and general films can be used, thus solving both of the disadvantages described above. However, mono-focal cameras in the form of a film provided with a lens (e.g., UTSURUNDESU, a product produced by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. and marketed in Japan are popular, and such a camera does not control exposure in a broad light exposure range for the photographed object. It is therefore necessary under the present circumstances that the color film must maintain a broad latitude capable of covering a wide photographing region, and under conditions such as over-exposure or under-exposure, this disclosed art is not satisfactory.
JP-A No. 11-18045 discloses a method of forming an image easily in which a fixing material having a layer containing a fixing agent is laid on a color photosensitive material subjected to a color development step, to dissolve and remove silver halide. This method is also an easy and simplified development method, but the developing solution is easily deteriorated. In particular, picture staining easily occurs in slack periods, and the qualities of the finished picture easily fluctuate. Thus, maintenance of processing stability is difficult.
Further, JP-A No. 9-222701, JP-A No. 10-301241, JP-A No. 11-143045 and JP-A No. 11-271941 disclose a contact heat conductive heating method, a warm air heating method, an infrared heating method and a microwave heating method after a developing solution is applied to a color photosensitive material. According to these methods, the amount of a developing solution can be reduced, and the development process can also be carried out.
The contact heat conductive heating method has excellent efficiency of heat conduction when the color photosensitive material can be contacted closely with a heating means, but there are the problems that the color photosensitive material and the heating means may be stained upon contacting the color photosensitive material with the heating means, and uneven development occurs when they cannot contact each other uniformly. In the warm air heating method and the microwave heating method, a color photosensitive material is heated without contacting any other material, thus lowering heating efficiency, making uniform heating often difficult and temperature control difficult. In the infrared heating method, there are none of the problems of temperature control in spite of non-contact heating, but the color photosensitive material may be fogged by near infrared radiations having wavelengths close to visible rays, and near infrared radiations have poor efficiency of transfer of energy. There is thus the problem that much time is required for heating.
As described above, there is demand on the market for a color image-forming system which is simple, rapid, can deal with digital image information, and provides image qualities comparable in saturation and latitude to general color prints, but this demand is not satisfied under the present circumstances.
In the color photosensitive material described above, an anti-halation layer is not provided, or if provided, an anti-halation layer of black colloidal silver is provided. If the anti-halation layer is not provided, image fading occurs due to halation, or deterioration of light shielding (generation of light fogging) is caused. In a color photosensitive material using black colloidal silver in the anti-halation layer, reading sensitivity or reading accuracy is lowered due to absorption of the black colloidal silver in the infrared region, upon reading of image information by infrared radiations. That is, there arise the severe problems that the absorption of the black colloidal silver in the infrared region becomes a background, which deteriorates the ability to identify the image information, or because of an increase in image density, it becomes difficult to read the image information, and the reading requires much time.
Further, the above-described prior art techniques of photoelectrically reading the image information on a developed film suffer from the problems that upon reading the image information, the absorption of an interlayer in the color photosensitive material becomes a background and reading accuracy is lowered, the fine colloidal silver grains result in noise which worsens resolution and lowers the ability to identify the image information, and due to an increase in image density, it becomes difficult to read the image and reading is time-consuming. Even if one of these problems can be solved, It is difficult to solve all of these problems, which thus is a deterrent to practical use.